“Yeah, it just feels like an impossible situation. Someone is going to get hurt, and it’s all my fault.” Sympathy fills his eyes and he frowns.

“Like I said, we will figure it out. Don’t stress about it. Okay? Let’s drop it for now and we can revisit it.”

“Yeah, okay.” I sniffle, feeling ridiculous. “So why did you paint that here?” I glance at the gorgeous rendition of the drawing that sits in my dresser.

“I need practice to get it right and I want everyone who comes here to know that you belong to me.”

“I belong to you?” My heart flutters at his possessive words. I like the way it sounds, the way I feel, the way we are together.

“Well, you’re mine, aren’t you?” He arches a brow, shaking a can of paint with his finger on the nozzle.

“Of course.” I smile, mischief no doubt glittering in my eyes by the way his responding smile turns naughty.

CHAPTER17

“So just like that,you’re good?” Foxy says, laying back and stretching her neck back like a cat. The guys are all hanging out working on an old car that J has. They’re stripping down an engine or some shit. I’m not exactly sure. Guy stuff. I know that.

We are sitting next to Jensen’s giant Olympic sized pool soaking up the sun before it disappears for the fall. The heat has let up for the day, but all the black marble that surrounds the pool attracts the sun’s rays, so it’s a little warmer than it should be.

Jensen’s backyard is something out of magazines—royalty. The landscaping is perfect, not a leaf out of place along the manicured hedges. I may not care for this lifestyle much, but I’m not immune to reaping the benefits. Who doesn’t love laying next to a pool like this?

“What do you mean, just like that? Isn’t that why you apologize? I mean, what’s the point of apologizing if you’re gonna hold a grudge?” I ask, peeling an eye open to look at her. She sounded pretty serious, like she didn’t like the idea.

“Hey, I’m not arguing at all. I want to make sure you’re okay.” She doesn’t open her eyes when she expertly maneuvers her drink to her lips and takes a sip of whisky.Yuck. She convinced me to try some peach flavored brandy, which I’m sipping. It’s not bad at all. Better than the shit she is drinking.

Her body glistens with sticky tanning oil, the smell of coconuts wafting through the air. The south has heated up for the day and Foxy is taking full advantage, though I don’t think she is actually getting a tan. Her bikini is tiny. Two shreds of neon pink fabric cover her perky tits and a g-string bottom with a black stripe down the middle leaves little to the imagination. As always, she tidied her red locks up in a sexy, messy bun on the tippy-top of her head.

“Yeah, I am,” I say with a smile because it’s true. We’re doing great together. We settle into a comfortable silence, both nursing drinks with our feet dipped into the pool. As much as Foxy talks, not talking is also easy with her.

“Who thought of kissing?” she blurts.

“Huh?”

“Kissing. Who thought of it?” She shakes the ice in her glass and gazes into it like it’s one of those teas and the leaves on the bottom will give her the answer to her obscene dilemma. “What was the first kiss like? Who was sitting around thinking, ‘I want to show you affection by putting my mouth on you’?”

“You’re so weird. How much have you had to drink?” I question.

“Not enough, apparently. But really though, I get P in the V,” she continues. “Thatmakes sense. I mean, a dick needs a hole… but kissing. Like let me put my mouth on you. Better yet, let’s touch tongues, that sounds like fun. Who thought of wanting someone else’s saliva in their mouth?”

I remain quiet, giggling to myself as she rambles on.

“I’m not complaining, it’s obviously hot…” Her pause makes me laugh a scale harder. Her face crinkles and her lips are moving, but she isn’t saying anything. That whisky must be getting to her. “Could you imagine how that conversation went? What they said when they admitted to someone that they did it and liked it or… what happened if someone caught them?”

Laughter is bubbling out of me and she has yet to notice that I’m not replying. Then again, she isn’t really looking for an answer. She seems to have this conversation handled.

“I’m just saying it happened at some point,” she concludes, pointing her finger at me. Her eyes go wide and she snickers. “Even worse, imagine how weird sex would be without it. Like what if sucking titties never happened? What if kissing wasn’t the precursor or what if oral… oh my god. I have to stop. I can’t even think about that. Thank God for whoever invented kissing.”

By this time, I’m clutching my stomach, my abs sore from following her conversation she’s having with herself and the conclusion she has come to. Only my bestie would think of something like that. It’s one of the many reasons I love her.

“Jesus, Fox. That’s deep. I can’t imagine not sucking on—” Kai cuts himself off as he takes two handfuls of tits, caught up in the moment, then looks up at me with wide eyes. He’s frozen for a second before he releases my best friend’s chest. “Sorry, Charley.”

His cheeks go through variations of pink before they settle on red.

I would be fine without that image burning in my mind. My brother’s sex life isn’t something I want to learn about, but she is also my bestie and it’s bound to happen, so I laugh it off, knowing Kai is likely mortified. He must have a lot of fun with those two being the shy one of the bunch.

“All good, big bro. Promise,” I say, swaying as I return to the bar to pour more brandy in my tumbler. A girl could get used to this stuff.

“How much have you had to drink?” Grease stained hands wrap around me from behind and I’m hauled into a lean, hard chest. Riggs’ breath tickles my neck and I shrug my shoulders up on instinct. He chuckles, trying to nuzzle his way into my defense.